Muscular Dystrophy

Mr. Andrew Smith
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding his Department is providing for research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy in 2009-10.

Gillian Merron
Both the Department and the Medical Research Council (MRC) support research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The MRC spent £2.1 million on such research in 2007-08. (Figures for more recent years are not yet available.) Projected Departmental expenditure in the current financial year is principally expenditure by National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research centres and amounts to £450,000.

Mr. Oaten
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of centres of excellence for people with muscular dystrophy.

Ann Keen
We have made no assessment of the adequacy of the number of centres of excellence for those living with muscular dystrophy. It is the responsibility of local health bodies to ensure adequate health and social care services to meet the needs of their local population with muscular dystrophy.